Multi-functional Headwear with Tubular Top attached to a brim or visor

ABSTRACT

Multifunctional headwear comprised of a pliable fabric tubular top attached to a brim or visor. The headwear has a compatible attachment apparatus connected to the tubular top and the brim or visor respectively, so the parts can be quickly and easily interchanged to accommodate rapid changes in environments and style situations. This headwear allows for customizing the fit of the tubular top while attached to a brim or visor, by twisting, knotting, draping or folding it to offer optimal comfort and protection while on the head. The brim has a slit in the rear where the excess fabric of the tubular top can pass through and be held in place. Likewise, the visor has a elastic fabric tab attached to hold excess fabric from the top in place. The pliable brims, visors and tubular top make the headwear easy to pack and fit into pockets and compact bags without compromising the hat&#39;s shape and integrity.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

5,471,684 December 1995 Casale D,408,968 May 1999 Bardin 5,960,477October 1999 Dixon 5,822,800 October 1998 Anderson 6,640,342 November2003 Dixon 4,641,380 2/2987 Epstein D474,001 May 2003 Landers D,401,392November 1998 DiGiglia D,277,139 January 1985 DeFalco

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of headwear apparel foroutdoor use and more specifically to multifunctional headwear adaptableto various outdoor environments and the protection needs of the wearer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many hats and most types of headwear are often designed for one or veryfew specific purposes, such as providing physical protection fromprecipitation, ultraviolet radiation, and overexposure of sunlight onthe eyes, retaining body heat, and keeping the head cool from directexposure to the sun. Other features of hats and headwear are the abilityto fit comfortably and snuggly to the user's head, and be flexible andnon-bulky to accommodate storage and travel. Some hats and headwear mayprovide physical protection features but are rigid and difficult to packin a tight space such as a backpack or a pocket without damaging thebrim, top or the purpose of the hat. Furthermore, aside from practicaluses, hats and headwear often have a single purpose for promoting eithera specific type of physical protection, or to promote specific designaesthetics such as a fashion or to promote marketing and ornamentaldesigns.

Single purpose hats and headwear often are only suitable for certainevents during specific environmental conditions at a specific time. Dueto these single purpose designs, many hats and most types of headwearlimit their use especially if they are needed in settings that canchange quickly due to changes in weather or environmental conditions. Aperson is often forced to have several different hats availabledepending on the weather or travel conditions, or is left without asuitable hat if they only have one for a highly specificcondition/situation which no longer is current yet they still needprotection for their face or head in the changed conditions.

Current prior art for multifunctional headwear designs suffer from anumber of deficiencies, including only being designed for one or veryfew purposes, an inability to adapt to continuously changing weatherconditions, made of rigid non-pliable material that restrict packing insmall areas like pockets and handbags, and aren't easily adjustable tofit the wearer's head and simultaneously supply sufficient protectionand comfort to the face and head.

Many types of multifunctional headwear have been proposed none of whichapproach the design and functionality of the present invention.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,684 issued to Casale, illustrates headwear with adetachable visor but the top of the hat is a typical “baseball” styledhat constructed of webbed plastic mesh. Unlike the present invention,this model has a rigid top covering the head and it doesn't effectivelymaintain top heat on the head nor efficiently cool the head duringextreme heat and isn't easily packed in small spaces without losing theintended design, form and integrity of the hat.

In U.S. Pat. No. D,408,968 issued to Bardin, the headwear has a tubulartop that can be adjusted to the user's head size, can be worn with thetop end open or tied in a knot but unlike the present invention it lacksa brim or visor and an ability to attach said brim or visor.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,477 issued to Dixon, the hat top is made of aprimarily flexible fabric that is permanently attached to a visor andlacks the ability to be detached from the visor. The hat top is closedon the top end and while it may retain body heat it doesn't promotedispersion of excessive body heat.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,822,800 issued to Anderson, the headwear has atubular top with a drawstring apparatus at the openings to control theopening size but unlike the present invention it lacks any apparatus toattach a brim or visor.

In U.S. Pat. No. 6,640,342 issued to Dixon, illustrates headwear thathas a long tubular top but no brim or visor attached nor any apparatusintended to make attachment of a brim or visor possible. Unlike thepresent invention this design is intended to be used primarily as ascarf and simple head covering, and not as a hat that has a brim orvisor which offers additional protection from the elements.

In U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,380 issued to Epstein, the headwear has a pliablefabric tubular top with open ends but unlike the present invention thetop is short and one end is closed with a zipper apparatus. It alsolacks the ability to attach a brim or visor.

In U.S. Pat. No. D474,001 issued to Landers, illustrates a headwearcomprised of a tubular top made of a pliable fabric connected to aflexible visor. However, unlike the present invention, the visor is notdetachable from the tubular top.

In U.S. Pat. No. D,401,392 issued to DiGiglia, the headwear has apliable fabric top attached to a visor but unlike the present inventionit is not open ended nor is the visor detachable.

In U.S. Pat. No. D,277,139 issued to DeFalco, illustrates a headwearwith a tubular design that is intended for retaining hair in place andhas an apparatus for closing one end. However, unlike the presentinvention it doesn't have the ability or apparatus to attach brims orvisors.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention consists of a hat that has a tubular top made of apliable, stretchable fabric attached to a brim or visor. The tubular topcan be attached to the brim or visor permanently or by using differentsorts of attachment apparatus such as buttons, button snaps,hook-and-eye fasteners and hook-and-loop fasteners. Using combinationsof brims and visors to attach to the tubular top, the wearer can createvarious methods of covering and uncovering the head to retain ordisperse top heat while still protecting the face from sunlight andother exposure to natural elements. The brim for the hat has a slit atthe rear on the horizontal base of the brim, which is designed to holdthe excess fabric of the tubular top in place when it is pulled back ortwisted over the head to the rear of the brim by pulling it through theslit. When a visor is being used instead of a brim, the slit is replacedwith an elastic tab fastened at the back of the visor where the tubulartop can be passed through and be held in place.

The tubular top which is made of a pliable, stretchable, natural orsynthetic fabric also allows a person to customize the hat to fitcomfortably and snuggly on their head while still providing optimalprotection or ventilation to the face and head by being attached to abrim or visor which offers desired protection for a specific occasion.

There are several ways a user can adjust the tubular top for maximumcomfort or protection as it is worn on the user's head. The tubular topcan be worn with the open end, which is not attached to the brim orvisor, draped open and hanging back across the head and the back of theneck or draped across the head and hanging down over an ear on the sideof the head. The open end can also be tied in a knot that sits at thetop, sides or the back of the head. The tubular top can also be twistedinto a cord which is pulled backwards down over the back of the head andthrough the slit or elastic tab at the rear of the brim or visorrespectively. The tubular top can be worn by gathering or rolling downthe open unattached end all the way down to encompass the circumferenceof the brim or visor where the tubular top is fastened. Thus, the hatwill fully expose the top of the head and provide maximal ventilation.The tubular top can also be worn to partially expose a portion of thetop part of the user's head by detaching a section of the top from thebrim or visor to provide partial coverage as well as ventilation of thehead.

The separation of the tubular top from the brim or visor allows for theuser to still wear said brim or visor on their head, while also wearingthe detached tubular top independently around the neck or pulled up overthe nose, mouth and ears to offer nasal and oral protection. Theattachment apparatus provides the user advantages over other headwear byallowing the user to use several interchangeable tubular tops, brims orvisors attached to each other in ways that effectively accommodate manydifferent weather and environmental conditions and also accommodate avariety of color, fashion and design styles. Furthermore, theinterchangeability of hat parts (tops, brims and visors) and the varietyof ways the hat can be worn essentially give the user many hats in one.Due to the hat's flexibility and ability to detach a brim or visor fromthe top, the multifunctional headwear can also be easily folded orrolled and packed into pockets and small bags without compromising theshape, form and integrity of the brim or visor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective of the multifunctional headwear with a brim andpermanently attached (sewn) tubular top stretched upwards in fulllength.

FIG. 2 is a perspective of the multifunctional headwear with the toptied in a knot.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the top rolled down and exposing the headwhile still attached to the brim.

FIG. 4 is a side view that shows the top twisted back over the head andtucked through the slit in the brim.

FIG. 5 is a back view of the multifunctional headwear that shows thetubular top draped back over the head and tucked through the slit in thebrim.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the multifunctional headwear that shows thetubular top attached to the brim with a hook-and-loop (Velcro® type)fastener attachment apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a perspective of the multifunctional headwear with a visor andpermanently attached (sewn) tubular top stretched upwards in fulllength.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the multifunctional headwear with a visor andattached tubular top twisted and pulled back across the head and placedunder the tab at the back of the visor.

FIG. 9 is a perspective of the multifunctional headwear with a buttonattachment apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a perspective of the multifunctional headwear with a snapbutton attachment apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a perspective of the multifunctional headwear with ahook-and-eye attachment apparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows the multi-functional headwear (also called the hat) with aseamless tubular fabric top 1 attached to a brim 2. The tubular top 1 ismade of a thin pliable, stretchable fabric that can be synthetic,natural or a hybrid of both and may include ultraviolet protection. Thetubular top 1 is cylindrical in shape with an elastic diameter of6.5-7.5 inches and a length of 20-30 inches. The tubular top 1 has oneend 3 that is open and makes it adaptable to be worn in a number ofconfigurations: Knotted as shown in FIG. 2, rolled down as shown in FIG.3, twisted as shown in FIG. 4, and draped back across the head andplaced through the slit 4 at the base of the brim 2 as shown in FIG. 5

The brim 2 may be of any variety of common types such as the standardsun hat brim shown in FIG. 1. Other common brims could be from bowlerhats, Fedora hats, cowboy hats, baseball caps, etc. All of the brims 2lack a top part of the hat and are interchangeable with the tubular top1 by having an attachment apparatus compatible with the top, as shown inFIG. 6 with hook-and-loop fasteners (Velcro® type) consisting of hooks 5and loops 6 attached to the tubular top 1.

The brim 2 for the hat has a slit 4 that is 3-4 inches in length andabout 0.25 inches wide. It is situated at the back of the brim about ¼of an inch from where the tubular top 1 attaches to the brim 2. The slit4 is used to hold the excess length of the tubular top 1 in place whenit is draped back or twisted over the back of the head and passedthrough the slit 4. This also allows the tubular top 1 to comfortablysit on the user's head by being easily adjusted to fit exactly how theuser desires. FIG. 7 shows the tubular top 1 can also be attached to avisor 7. However, since the visor 7 lacks material in the back to hold aslit 4, it is replaced with an elastic tab 8 which is a piece of elasticfabric about 4 inches by 0.5 inches that has both ends attached to theback of the visor 7 so as to leave a space between the underside of thetab 8 and the visor's 7 rear rim which allows the tubular top 1 to passthrough and be held in place as is shown in FIG. 8.

The attachment apparatus on the brim 2 or visor 7 and the tubular top 1can consist of different methods such as shown in FIG. 9 with buttons 9and corresponding button holes 10 surrounding the circumference of thebrim 2 and tubular top 1 respectively. Other forms of attachmentapparatus that can be implemented and function similar to the buttons 9.FIG. 10 shows a snap button apparatus with male 11 and female 12connectors, and FIG. 11 shows a hook-and-eye apparatus with hooks 13 andeyes 14.

When the hat's brim 2 or visor 7 can be detached from the top 1, thebrim 2 or visor 7 can still be worn on the head in the usual manner.

What is claimed is:
 1. A multifunctional headwear that completely orpartially covers the head comprising: a tubular top and: a brim or visorand; an attachment apparatus connected on said tubular top, said brim orsaid visor.
 2. The multifunctional headwear of claim 1, wherein thetubular top which is open on both ends and may be composed of any knowntextile, synthetic or natural material, is elastic and stretchable and;has a cross-sectional diameter of at least 6.5 inches and that canexpand to 8.0 inches and; has a length of at least 20-30 inches and; hasan attachment apparatus on one end which is compatible with theattachment apparatus on a corresponding brim or visor, which is used toattach the top to said brim or visor; or is permanently attached to thebrim or visor.
 3. The multifunctional headwear as of claim 1, whereinthe brim can be of any style, shape or size and; may be composed of anyknown textile, synthetic or natural material and; has fullcircumferential coverage of the head above the eyes and ears and; has aslit positioned in the rear which is used to keep the excess fabric ofthe tubular top in place when draped or twisted back over the back ofthe head and; has an attachment apparatus, compatible with acorresponding top's attachment apparatus, which is used to attach thebrim and top to each other; or is permanently fastened to the tubulartop.
 4. The multifunctional headwear as of claim 1, wherein said visorcan be of any style, shape or size and; may be composed of any knowntextile, synthetic or natural material and; has full circumferentialcoverage of the head above the eyes and ears and; has a 4.0 inch by 0.5inch elastic fabric tab attached to the rear which is used to keep theexcess fabric of said tubular top in place when draped or twisted backover the back of the head and; has an attachment apparatus compatiblewith a corresponding top's attachment apparatus, and is used to attachthe visor and top to each other; or is permanently fastened to thetubular top.
 5. The multifunctional headwear as of claim 1, wherein theattachment apparatus of claim 1 is comprised of:
 6. thread stitchingpermanently fastening the tubular top to the brim or visor or: a buttonsystem connected to said tubular top and said brim or said visor or; asnap fastener system connected to said tubular top and said brim or saidvisor or; a hook-and-loop fastening system connected to said tubular topand said brim or said visor or; a hook-and-eye fastening systemconnected to said tubular top and said brim or said visor.